CK Midas plans to move further into digital printing over the next 12 months following its recent formation.
The company was formed after Whitstable's Midas Design & Print acquired CK Litho, also based in the Kent town.


All 41 employees will be retained, with John Read, formerly managing director of CK Litho, staying on as a director of the new company.


Read will have a place on the board of directors along with CK Midas director Jason Pyne and his business partner, Peter Hancox.


The deal was finally completed after several months of protracted negotiations between the two companies.
"We will be one of the only companies this side of London to have a Xerox DocuColor 100," said Pyne.


"We will offer the combination of the traditional elements of repro together with digital.


"Although we are retaining the traditional element of a repro house, we want to show that we are also moving forward," he stressed.


Production will be consolidated at the CK Litho site, although the Midas plant will be retained.


CK Litho installed the DocuColor 100 in December 1999, shortly after securing its long-term future.


This was following a winding-up petition issued by Customs & Excise over unpaid tax returns, which was then cancelled in late 1999.


"We want to stress that we're moving forward from repro to design and on to the digital process," said Pyne.


CK's last accounts, for the year to May 1998, showed an 18,221 pre-tax loss on sales of 1.5m.


Story by Andy Scott